Army Rescues 3 Men in Assam After Locals Mistake Them for Child Lifters

Assam: Security personnel rescued three men from a bloody recreation of the Karbi Anglong lynching incident after locals surrounded them in Assam's Dima Hasao on suspicion of being child lifters.

The three men, who were dressed like ‘sadhus’, were reportedly driving around Mahur on Thursday morning when they were cornered by a mob near the railway station that thought they were ‘sopadhoras’ (Assamese term for child lifters). The locals also rummaged through their belongings but found nothing suspicious.

Some security personnel of the 119 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) received information about the incident and rescued the three men who had suffered minor injuries.

The trio — two from Uttar Pradesh and one from Gujarat — was later taken to the Mahur Camp and interrogated by the force.

“The three men were travelling back to Guwahati, and were to embark upon a train journey from Mahur railway station. They could not visit Tripura as the road from Halflong to Silchar was closed due to bad weather. They were surrounded by a mob at Mahur on suspicion of being child lifters but were saved by the timely intervention of security forces,” said superintendent of police Prasanta Saikia.

Police added that some anti-social elements had spread rumours on social media that children’s apparel were recovered from the belongings of the three men.

Following the incident, an emergency meeting was convened by the district administration of Dima Hasao under deputy commissioner Amitabh Rajhkhowa at the Halflong circuit house.

“Rumour-mongering has already done us much harm. It has marred the reputation of the district. But we have appealed to people to not panic. There is a fear psychosis here with locals believing that outsiders kidnap children.

“Student organisations have decided to spread awareness. All Gaon Burahs (village headmen) of 700 villages will be provided with numbers of police control rooms. We appeal to people not to take law into their own hands. If they find any suspicious person, they should inform the police,” said Saikia.

Police added that the three men had returned to Guwahati from where they would leave for Uttar Pradesh.